1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates, generally, to tourniquets. More particularly, it relates to clothing having tourniquets that are built into both arms and both legs of a military garment.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The widespread use of military and police body armor has reduced body trauma and saved lives. The head and torso of modern military and police personnel are well-protected by helmets and body armor, respectively. Close urban fighting, however, can produce very severe injuries to exposed limbs. To provide protective armor for the legs and arms of such personnel would unduly restrict their freedom of movement, thereby decreasing rather than increasing their chances of survival in a combat zone.
The legs and arms of military or law enforcement personnel are therefore at risk when shots are fired or shells explode. Arterial bleeding from an extremity is now the leading cause of preventable battlefield death in modern warfare. These deaths could be minimized with a rapid and successful tourniquet application.
Modern military organizations are capable of delivering medical services very quickly to wounded personnel. However, in certain military or law enforcement situations, medical services cannot quickly or safely access wounded personnel. Dependent upon the severity of the injury and rate of blood loss, there may be insufficient time to summon and await the services of a tourniquet-supplying medic.
Tourniquets in personal supply kits can be difficult to find and access during trauma and battle confusion. Once the personal supply kit has been located, the injured person may not be able to manipulate or apply the standard tourniquet that comes with such kits over complex fractures and fragmented extremities in a timely and competent fashion.
There is a need, then, to simplify tourniquet application and to shorten the time between the infliction of a wound and the application of a tourniquet so that lives can be saved.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,044,759 to Ghayouran discloses a full leg covering having multiple inflatable air chambers with tourniquets to exert pressure progressively upward from the ankle to the thigh. This structure allows blood in the leg to be slowly “milked” to increase central blood volume during shock or during operative procedures. It requires an air compressor for inflation. The Ghayouran milking device thus shares with the present invention the desirable feature of providing a built-in tourniquet. However, the Ghayouran device differs from the present invention in that it is not self-sustaining, it is not a self-contained, one-piece unit, it lacks a protective pocket cover, and it cannot be applied in one action.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,702,551 to Hobson discloses a garment having a built-in tourniquet at the base of each limb-receiving sleeve. Each built-in tourniquet includes a loop that protrudes from the garment. To use the Hobson tourniquet, the user must 1): locate a separate rigid tool; 2) thread the rigid tool through the loop; 3) twist the tool to tighten the tourniquet; and 4) continue holding the rigid tool until help arrives. The tourniquet will come undone unless the injured party constantly maintains pressure. It is difficult for injured military personnel to maneuver and evade while holding the rigid tool.
When the tourniquet is not in use, the loop, being mounted on the external surface of the garment as aforesaid, can become snagged on various environmental obstacles as the wearer of the garment moves past such obstacles. For example, if the garment is worn in a forest or jungle, underbrush and other natural obstacles may engage the loops. If the garment is worn in a warehouse or other urban setting, various man-made artifacts may engage the loop. The engaging of a loop by an article, whether natural or man-made, that does not quickly release the loop can impede the movement of the garment wearer and thus cause a number of problems.
The Hobson tourniquet thus shares with the present invention the desirable feature of providing a built-in, fast application tourniquet. However, the Hobson device, like the Ghayouran device, differs from the present invention in that it is not self-sustaining, it is not a self-contained, one piece unit, it lacks a protective pocket cover, and it cannot be applied in one action.
Both Ghayouran and Hobson are superior to conventional tourniquets because conventional tourniquets are not built-in with a garment and thus cannot be quickly applied when needed. Conventional tourniquets, Like Ghayouran and Hobson, differ from the present invention in that conventional tourniquets are not self-sustaining, are not self-contained, one piece units, lack a protective pocket cover, and cannot be applied in one action.
The US Army has a tourniquet known by its acronym SAFE tourniquet that is a one-piece, self-contained tourniquet that is self-sustaining. However, it is not built-in to a garment so it cannot be applied as quickly as can a built-in tourniquet. Moreover, it lacks a protective pocket cover and cannot be applied in one action.
Therefore, there is a need for a self-sustaining tourniquet that does not require a user to hold a tool in an operable position while awaiting medical assistance.
There is also a need for a tourniquet-containing garment that includes no external parts that may cause problems for the wearer when the tourniquet is not in use.
A tourniquet that is tightened by twisting a loop is also undesirable because a rigid tool must be available for use and the injured party must be able to thread the loop with such rigid tool if such a tool can be found. The injured party must then rotate the rigid tool a number of times to tighten the tourniquet and then continue to hold the rigid article so that the tourniquet is not loosened until medical assistance arrives.
There is therefore a need for a tourniquet-containing garment that does not require a user to thread a loop or to perform some other such difficult maneuver to tighten a tourniquet.
There is a closely related need for a garment having a built-in tourniquet that does not require a user to find a rigid tool as a condition prerequisite to tightening of the tourniquet.
There is a further need for a tourniquet that does not require the user to hold a tool in an operable position while awaiting medical assistance.
However, in view of the prior art taken as a whole at the time the present invention was made, it was not obvious to those of ordinary skill how the identified needs could be fulfilled.